Angola: 17 dead, scores injured in football stadium stampede

About 17 people have died and several others injured in an Angolan stadium when a stampede occured during a local football match.

Medical sources said supporters stormed the gates of the stadium to watch a game between local teams resulting in the accident. The incident occured at the January 4th stadium in in the northern city of Uige.

“There has been a push that led to the suffocation of people. Some people had to walk of other people. There were 76 casualties of whom 17 died,” Ernesto Luis, director general of the local hospital told Reuters.

Angola: At least 17 people killed, 60 injured in a stampede during football league championship inaugural game, in Uige province.

— Zenaida Machado (@zenaidamz) February 10, 2017

Africa has had its fair share of soccer disasters, one of the most notable ones being in Ghana, 16 years ago when 129 football fans died in what became known as the Accra Sports Stadium disaster.

The deaths were caused by a stampede (caused by the firing of teargas by police personnel at the stadium), it followed a controversial decision by the referee in a game between the top local sides, Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko.